Dick Spotswood: Taking the pledge to practice civil discussion

Mary Jane Burke, Marin County’s superintendent of education, is showing real leadership by stepping out and speaking up about the decline in civility not just in the rest of America, but occasionally here in Marin as well.

So far, we’ve been mostly lucky. With the occasional exception, Marin campaigns for city council and even the county Board of Supervisors tend to be civilized affairs where candidates and their supporters personally respect their opponents even if they disagree with their policy stands.

With increasing partisanship led by wackos on the far right and far left who fight to the finish, there’s a risk that the discussion-killing take-no-prisoners approach to civic life will spread to Marin.

The brutal discourse in the Ross Valley regarding sharing of resources between the public school district and the public charter school comes to mind, as do crude anonymous harangues over local issues posted on social media.

It was just a few years ago that miscreants were tossing mud in San Rafael campaigns.

Burke has joined with other good-government types to establish an informal nonpartisan group, Elevate the Discussion. It proposes that all engaged in Marin civic life make the following public commitment: “I pledge to discuss challenging community issues with thoughtfulness, to treat people whose opinions differ from mine with respect, and to focus on ideas, policies and solutions. I will encourage others to do the same. I will speak up and publicly object when I hear name-calling, stereotypes, disparaging comments and slurs. I will do this because our community’s health and social well-being is important to me and I know that we cannot effectively deal with challenging problems without these commitments.”

Its website at elevatethediscussion.org lists those who have already taken the pledge. If readers committed to civil discussion of community and national issues haven’t already signed up, do it today.

With Marin municipal elections just weeks away and county supervisorial elections next spring, it’s timely for candidates for local office to stand up straight and make the commitment.

Some candidates enamored of negative “hit pieces” may not wish to do so. That’s their right.

It’s also Marinites’ right to withhold their vote from any candidate who fails to make such a basic vow to civility.

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In coming weeks, this column will recognize candidates who signed up on the Elevate the Discussion website. Toward the end of October those who took a pass will also get their due recognition.

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The more we all do to bring ourselves together as a community the better. Whether it is at neighborhood block parties, community associations, service clubs like Rotary or at churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, forming personal bonds is the best antidote to the forces trying to rupture our once indivisible nation for profit or political gain.

One aspect of American life not yet politicized is our love of animals. God forbid we make cats a Democratic litmus test or dogs allied with the GOP — or vice versa. Next thing we know German shepherds will be identified as Republican, collies as Democrats and beagles with us independents.

I’ve always enjoyed annual “blessing of the pets” celebrations honoring St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment. It’s one more opportunity for like-minded folks of multiple political persuasions to get together and know each other without divisive partisanship.

Marin will have multiple blessings of the pets on St. Francis’ feast day, Wednesday, Oct. 4. I will be at the one held at downtown Mill Valley’s Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic parish schoolyard at 5:30 p.m.

These fun outdoor ecumenical events are open to all — even those without pets.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes about local issues on Wednesdays and Sundays in the IJ. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.